sailing in a "race"

Every Wednesday night, during the spring and summer, there is a race in the Sydney Harbour. Kate (who was one of my partners in my Marketing group assignment) has made sailing on Wednesdays a top priority--she will not miss it, no matter how crazy work may be. Needless to say, I was so excited when she invited me to go sailing with them yesterday.

Here's Kate, getting the boat ready.

According to Kate, there are typically about 60 boats in the race. There are a two or three divisions, based upon the size of the boat. There is a short course and a long course--depending upon the wind conditions. Since the wind was a bit flat, yesterday was the short course.

Here's the starting line.

Everyone is trying to get a good spot. It's is amazing how close the boats are to each other. Sometimes, you can get so close that you can reach out and touch another boat.

And then we're off. The race typically takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. My job (since I don't know how to sail at all) was basically to be weight on the boat. See those guys with their feet dangling over the side? That was me.

Actually, it was a *bit* more complicated. We did have to move from one side of the boat to the other, climbing over the middle and ducking so we don't get whacked in the head by the boom (the lower part of the main sail).

There was another person on the boat who also knew nothing about sailing. So we both chatted with one another, enjoying the ride. Oh, and moving from one side of the boat to the other--you know, the really hard and strenuous job.

The guy on the left is Murray, the co-owner of the boat. Neil is at the wheel. I love how thin and giant the wheel is. It looks very elegant to me.

At some points of the race, the wind completely died. We were just sitting in the water--and that's when it really didn't feel like a race. I think the sailors were getting frustrated--I mean, it's a RACE--you want to MOVE. But the wind was not cooperating--and we just drifted, waiting for the wind to come.

This is when the beers and snacks came out. I mean, if you're not moving, you might as well grab a beer.

Of course, I was perfectly content to just sit and enjoy the view.

Then, the wind picked up again, and we were moving pretty fast. I was amazed at how tilted the boat could be. I was very happy to put my weight on the up-side of the boat.

Afterwards, we went to have drinks and pub food at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. It was fun to chat with these guys--especially after having spent a beautiful evening sailing with them--because we didn't talk on the boat.

Plus, I got to learn a little bit more about elections in Australia, which is happening this Saturday. Voting is compulsory (which I think is great). But, they also do this thing where you vote for your #1 choice, and you also state your #2 choice (called a preference). The way it works is like this:

1. If a candidate gets 50% or more of the votes, then that person wins.

2. If none of the candidates gets 50% or more of the votes, then they count all of the #1 votes, and the #2 votes. Whoever gets the most of those is the winner. So, it's possible for you to not have the most #1 votes--but have so many #2 votes that you are elected into office.

Apparently, there is some wheeling and dealing about these "preference votes"--which I didn't quite understand. But I thought it was an interesting system.

One of the best things about hanging out with these guys is that they truly love Australia. I think I've been with too many expats--where we don't understand Australia and so we aren't particularly comfortable and don't really love it here. But, these guys feel like they are one of the luckiest people in the world. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on me. Of course, these guys also go sailing every Wednesday. I'd feel pretty damned lucky too.